


The Many Languages of the Avengers

by Lavandula_Caeruleus



Category: Marvel
Genre: Deaf Clint Barton, Gen, Multilingual Avengers, Multilingual Characters, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 5,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26432278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavandula_Caeruleus/pseuds/Lavandula_Caeruleus
Summary: The Avengers are multilingual, which can lead to some interesting situations.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner & Natasha Romanov, Bruce Banner & Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers, Clint Barton & Bruce Banner, Clint Barton & Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov & Bucky Barnes, Peter Parker & Bucky Barnes, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 104





	1. Hindi

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I used Google translate.  
> I will accept constructive criticism for non-English.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce tends to sleep talk and get confused when he's tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruce lived in India for a while doing humanitarian work.

Normally, Tony was the one who stayed up into the wee hours the morning, past the witching hour, working until he passed out on top of whatever project he'd been trying to finish.  
This time, it was Bruce. Which was odd, since normally he'd stick to his schedule and go to bed at the same time every night unless they were watching a good movie.  
But he hadn't been sleeping very well lately, and had gotten to the point where, instead of trying to go back to sleep every time he woke up, he just went to the lab to work.  
So when Tony was walking past his lab at 4 am, he understandably backtracked when he saw that the light was on in the window. He peered in. He could see Bruce's curly hair peeking up above his computer, his face resting against the top of the desk and wedging his glasses against his face in what Tony assumed could only be an uncomfortable position.  
He went inside and took in the scene. Bruce had fallen asleep doing something on his computer, notes scattered across the desk. He tapped him on the shoulder lightly. He didn't wake up, but stayed asleep, mumbling something under his breath.  
"Hey, Bruce, I didn't catch what you said."  
The scientist buried his head in his arms more. "Chale jao. Mai sona chaahata hoon..."  
"OK, I didn't really understand that, buddy, but I think you'd rather sleep in your bed, right?" He tapped Bruce's shoulder more vigorously. "We both know that the other guy gets fiesty if you don't get your sleep."  
Bruce mumbled something unintelligible, so Tony grabbed his shoulder and shook it gently. That got his attention, and he looked up at Tony, still half-asleep. "Hey, you awake now?"  
"Kya- aap yahaan kyon hain? Koee samasya hai?"  
"Sorry Bruce, but I don't speak that language."  
"Hai na?" He rubbed his face. "Maaf karana...ah, sometimes I get confused when I'm tired. Sorry about that."  
"Nah, that's OK. Just tell me, what language was that?"  
"Oh. Hindi."  
"Hindi, huh?"  
Bruce shrugged. "I lived in India for a while."  
"Well," Tony said, clapping a hand onto Bruce's shoulder. "How about we get you some warm milk or something and send you off to bed."  
Bruce huffed fondly. "How about I show you how to make proper chai?"  
"Sounds like a deal to me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations
> 
> "Chale jao. Mai sona chaahata hoon..."  
> "Go away. I want to sleep..."
> 
> "Kya- aap yahaan kyon hain? Koee samasya hai?"  
> "What- why are you here? Is there a problem?"
> 
> "Hai na?"  
> "Huh?"
> 
> "Maaf karana..."  
> "Sorry..."


	2. American Sign Language

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint gets hurt, and his hearing aids break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ASL is an actual language with it's own grammar and everything.  
> Clint is canonically deaf, and in the comics he can sign and lip read.

Clint blinked his eyes open blearily, then sat up. He looked around, confused, then realized that the reason everything was so quiet was because his hearing aids were no longer working. Which was probably because of the EMP that they had failed to keep from activating.  
Man, Tony was going to be ticked off when his Ironman suit no longer worked.  
He took in his surroundings quickly, then hopped over a couple of roofs to the right to get a better vantage point on what was happening.   
It looked like the others pretty much had it under control. He let loose a couple of arrows just to make sure that Steve's left flank was covered, but it was all wrapped up pretty soon. He was folding up his bow when one last henchman snuck up behind him. He didn't even realize that they were there until he felt the liquid pain of a poorly aimed knife wound.  
He twisted around and grabbed his opponent by the arm, twisting it until they dropped the knife, mouth in a grimace of pain. He grabbed a taser arrow and jabbed them with it roughly until they collapsed to the ground, unconcious.  
He panted, and dropped the arrow. There was a sharp, clean cut slashed across his forearm. It was bleeding more than he was comfortable with.  
He huffed and grabbed one of the bandages that Natasha had taken to stuffing in his quiver when he wasn't looking, and wrapped it up tightly. The fabric turned pink. That was not really a good thing, but he also had no intention of going to the med bay. Luckily they were still in New York City, so they hadn't needed to take the quinjet anywhere, so he could feasibly avoid Bruce. Natasha on the other hand...she'd hunt him down once she figured out what was up.  
He bit his lip. Sneak into the ventilation system it was. It put him at a disadvantage since his last working pair of hearing aids no longer worked, but he could still feel the vibrations in the vents so he figured he could get away in time if someone actually went in after him.  
It didn't take long for them to find him. It also didn't take long for him to get dragged down to Bruce's lab, kicking the whole way.  
Natasha was stubborn.  
Bruce was standing in fornt of one of his science-y things, back to Clint. Natasha gave him a little shove towards him. He turned around and took out his hearing aids.  
'They broke.' He signed.  
Natasha looked like she was sighing. 'What happened this time?'  
'I think it was the EMP.' He felt someone touch his shoulder and jumped. Bruce nervously edged over into his field of vision. Clint side-eyed him. 'OK, Nat, I came, now can I go?'  
'No. Bruce is going to take care of your arm unless you want me to take you to SHIELD medical.'  
'I refuse to be babied by those people. They're paranoid, and they always use the stuff that stings!'  
Bruce gave him an exasperated look. 'I'm right here, Clint.'  
Clint blinked in surprise. 'I didn't know that you knew ASL.'  
Bruce shrugged. 'I'm a man of many talents.' He paused, thinking. 'Let me go get my supplies and then I'll be right back.'  
Clint nodded. He looked back at Natasha, who had that look on her face that meant that she was getting what she wanted. He scowled at her and made a rude gesture.  
Bruce walked back into his peripheral vision, and spoke to Natasha. Something about how bad it was. Clint cleared his throat.   
Bruce gave him that same exasperated look again. "I trust her more than you," he said, mirroring his oral words with signing. "You are the reason we had to have a manhunt in the tower. Again."  
Clint rolled his eyes.  
Bruce turned to Natasha, probably saying something, and then poked through his bag looking for what he needed. Natasha looked at him. 'Are you OK with lip-reading for now?'  
"Yeah. I'll be fine."   
She nodded. "I'll get Tony to fix your hearing aids." She then left.  
Bruce tapped him on the shoulder. "Can I look at your arm now?"  
He nodded, and Bruce went to work, apparently talking to himself as he did so, but Clint couldn't make out a word of what he was saying. It was gibberish to him. Which was frustrating, since normally he was very good at reading lips if he could see someone's face.  
Bruce tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "It's not that bad. I think I can just glue it shut and wrap it up." He bent down and dug around in his bag before pulling out some medical glue. He opened it and looked at Clint. "Hold still." It didn't take long, and soon Bruce was wrapping it up in a fresh bandage and checking over the last of his handiwork.  
"Can I go now?"  
Bruce nodded and indicated towards the door, scribbling down some notes. Clint shrugged. "OK, thanks, doc." Bruce nodded absently mindedly and Clint left. He was ready to sleep 'til Tuesday.


	3. Japanese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky discovers manga, and Steve gets involved.

One of the things that enthralled Bucky about the modern world was literature. Books were different now. The covers were bolder, more colorful and artistic. Writers wrote about many topics, and there were genres that he didn't even know existed. Fantasy alone had so many sub-genres he couldn't keep track of them all.  
One of his favorite things to do now was to go to thriftstores that sold books and browse the shelves. They had some pretty interesting inventory there. Though he quickly found that he wasn't very partial to westerns, which took up most of the book section for some reason. Maybe other people agreed with him about westerns and dropped them off here because of that.  
Then one day, someone left a huge shopping bag filled to the top with small books. There were too many to put on the shelves because the westerns were taking up that space. Bucky rifled through curiously. He looked at the binding, which had a character on it, and some Japanese. Flipping through it quickly, he realized that it was a book made of pictures. Another modern thing since the depression. This was interesting.  
So, logically, he took the entire bag home that day.  
When Steve got back from his workout, he found Bucky curled up on the sofa, a bag of books at his feet, and a small stack on the coffee table. He walked over and leaned against the back of the sofa. "Whatcha got there, Buck?"  
Bucky tried to wave him off, sticking his nose farther into the book. "Busy."  
Steve grabbed the book out of his hands. "You found yourself one of those books with pictures, huh?"  
Bucky swatted at him. "Give it back Steve!"  
Steve danced out of the way and looked at the book more closely. "Wait, is this..." he squinted. "Japanese?"  
Bucky growled. "I like it, OK?"  
He handed the book back. "I didn't know that you knew Japanese."  
Bucky huffed and looked for his spot. "I'm...was...compatible with all the main HYDRA branches."  
Steve stood there silently for a moment. "Oh."  
Bucky grunted and took back his book.  
"Um...what's it about?"  
Bucky sighed and rolled his eyes, picking up the book on the bottom of the stack, careful to not let the other books fall off the table. He tossed it to Steve, who caught it, surprised. "Here."  
Steve looked down at the book, then at Bucky.  
Bucky ignored him.  
"I can't read Japanese."  
Bucky set down his book in his lap and gave Steve a slightly annoyed look. "Seriously?"  
Steve nodded. "I can mostly speak it, but I can't read it. Not the, uh, fancy characters at least."  
Bucky picked his book up again, made note of the page number, then set it down in the bag, on top of all the other books. He made room on the sofa and patted the empty spot next to himself. "Sit."  
Steve did as he was told, sitting next to Bucky, as close as he dared.  
Bucky took the book from his hands. "OK, let's start from the beginning." He turned the book over so he could see the back. "Betsu no sekaide wa, ninja wa kyūkyoku no chikaradeari, soshite konoha tsuki no murade wa, sekai de mottomo onmitsuna ninja ga sunde imasu. Shikashi, 12-nen mae, kono wa ga kure wa osoroshī kyōi, tsumari mura no chanpiondearu hokage no inochi o ubatta 9-bi no kitsune no akuma ni shūchaku shite ita. Kyō, heiwa ga modori, uzumakinaruto to iu meiwakuna minashigo ga ninja akademī o sotsugyō shiyou to funtō shite imasu. Kare no mokuhyō wa tsugi no hokage ni naru kotodesu. Shikashi, naruto to kare no kurasumēto ni wa shira rete inai, kare no nakaniha osoroshī chikara ga arimasu..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation
> 
> "Betsu no sekaide wa, ninja wa kyūkyoku no chikaradeari, soshite konoha tsuki no murade wa, sekai de mottomo onmitsuna ninja ga sunde imasu. Shikashi, 12-nen mae, kono wa ga kure wa osoroshī kyōi, tsumari mura no chanpiondearu hokage no inochi o ubatta 9-bi no kitsune no akuma ni shūchaku shite ita. Kyō, heiwa ga modori, uzumakinaruto to iu meiwakuna minashigo ga ninja akademī o sotsugyō shiyou to funtō shite imasu. Kare no mokuhyō wa tsugi no hokage ni naru kotodesu. Shikashi, naruto to kare no kurasumēto ni wa shira rete inai, kare no nakaniha osoroshī chikara ga arimasu..."  
> "In another world, ninja are the ultimate power--and in the village of Konohagakure live the stealthiest ninja in the world. But twelve years ago Konohagakure was attached by a fearsome threat--a nine-tailed fox demon which claimed the life of the Hokage, the village champion. Today, peace has returned, and a troublemaking orphan named Uzumaki Naruto is struggling to graduate from the ninja Academy. His goal: to become the next Hokage. But unknown to Naruto and his classmates, within him is a terrifying force ..."


	4. Russian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky has a nightmare and gets confused.

Sometimes, Bucky had nightmares. That wasn't unusual by any means. Anyone who had been through things like he had would have nightmares. So he was used to waking up in the middle of the night, terrified, and reaching for weapons that were no longer on his person.  
After he had accidentally injured Sam during a bad night, he'd taken to leaving the weapons in a basket outside his bedroom door. He only mildly regretted it in times of terror.  
Tonight he woke up, blindly reaching for a knife, and falling out of his bed, landing hard on the floor. This nightmare had been the worst one that he'd had in a long time. He backed into a corner, sliding down the wall, legs trembling. He curled up in a ball, shaking.  
A little later, someone knocked on his door. It was Steve. He always knocked on Bucky's door the same way. Bucky breathed out a shaky sigh of relief. Steve was OK. Steve was OK, and if Steve was OK, then that meant that he was OK, too.  
Steve knocked again. "Buck? Can I come in?"  
Bucky nodded, then remembered that Steve couldn't see him. "Da. Voydite."  
Steve opened the door, then looked around the room when he saw the messy bed. His eyes landed on Bucky. "You OK over there?"  
Bucky laughed. "D-da, prekrasno. Ne volnuysya."  
Steve folded his arms skeptically. "One, that's your 'No, I'm not fine' laugh, and two, you're speaking Russian again."  
"V samom dele? Vy mogli obmanut' menya." He said deadpan, pulling his knees closer to hide the shaking.  
Steve pulled out his phone and started texting. "I'm getting backup."  
"Steve-"  
"No arguing, we're getting the whole assassin clique together. I know that always makes you feel better." He waved the phone at him. "And it's too late now, Natasha says they'll be over in less than five minutes."  
Bucky cursed.  
Steve raised an eyebrow. "I may not understand a word you're saying right now, but I know a cuss word when I hear it."  
Bucky glared at him. "I know you cuss in French, Steve."  
Steve carefully looked away trying not to let his face reveal his emotions. "Whatever makes you say that?" He asked with a false air of innocence.  
Bucky rolled his eyes.  
"Hey guys, we're here!" Clint called out. "I'm just going to help myself in the kitchen."   
Natasha shouldered past Steve into Bucky's room. She nodded at him.   
"Privet, Natasha..."  
She walked over and sat down next to him. "Privet sebe. Naskol'ko eto bylo plokho?"  
"Eh...Dostatochno plokho, chtoby upast' s krovati."  
"Pochemu by tebe ne poyti prinyat' dush i pozvolit' nam prigotovit' zavtrak? Mozhem posmotret' odin iz tekh fil'mov, kotoryye tebe nravyatsya."  
Bucky hesitated. "Khorosho, no ya skoro vernus'."  
"Khorosho."  
He got up unsteadily and walked to the door. "Spasibo, Natasha."  
"Pozhaluysta, Baki."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation
> 
> "Da. Voydite."  
> "Yes. Come in."
> 
> "D-da, prekrasno. Ne volnuysya."  
> "Y-yes, fine. Don't worry."
> 
> "V samom dele? Vy mogli obmanut' menya."   
> "Really? You could've fooled me."
> 
> "Privet, Natasha..."  
> "Hey, Natasha..."
> 
> "Privet sebe. Naskol'ko eto bylo plokho?"  
> "Hey yourself. How bad was it?"
> 
> "Eh...Dostatochno plokho, chtoby upast' s krovati."  
> "Eh...Bad enough to fall out of bed."
> 
> "Pochemu by tebe ne poyti prinyat' dush i pozvolit' nam prigotovit' zavtrak? Mozhem posmotret' odin iz tekh fil'mov, kotoryye tebe nravyatsya."  
> "Why don't you go take a shower and let us make breakfast? We can watch one of those movies that you like."
> 
> "Khorosho, no ya skoro vernus'."  
> "OK, but I'll be back soon."
> 
> "Khorosho."  
> "Good."
> 
> "Spasibo, Natasha."  
> "Thank you, Natasha."
> 
> "Pozhaluysta, Baki."  
> "You're welcome, Bucky."


	5. French

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve likes to listen to French music. Natasha finds out, and they trash talk Tony.

Steve always got nervous if things were too quiet. So he tended to have music on when he was alone. Which meant that he could listen to whatever he liked without getting any weird looks from people.  
So he listened to a French station.  
It was his secret until he lost track of time while cleaning and Natasha walked in on him singing while dancing with the mop in the kitchen.  
She raised an eyebrow at him as he scrambled to turn off the radio.  
"I didn't realize you liked French music?"  
He laughed nervously. "Yeah...I, uh, picked up French during the war..."  
"Vraiment? Êtes-vous à l'aise?"  
"Eh bien, je ne suis pas un expert, mais je connais assez bien la langue."  
She nodded approvingly, and the pair continued to chat while they had the reassurance of no one else knowing the language or being around. Steve finished cleaning and put the cleaning supplies away in the closet. "Alors, comment as-tu appris le français, Natasha?"  
"Steve, je suis un assassin hautement qualifié."  
"Bon point."  
Tony walked in, looking like the dead, hair sticking up everywhere, a streak of jam on his forehead, and what looked like ashes sticking to his shoes.  
"Et il est vivant, tu regarderais ça?" Steve commented.  
"«Honnêtement, je suis surpris qu'il soit toujours en vie. J'aurais pensé qu'il se serait tué accidentellement maintenant."  
Steve laughed. "Non, il est trop obstiné pour que cela se produise. Mais s'il meurt, mon argent est sur une surdose de caféine."  
Tony groaned and grabbed a mug of coffee that was sitting on the counter and sipped it. "Ugh, c'est qui le café? Est-ce à toi Steve? Je sais que vous ne mettez jamais de crème ou de sucre dans le vôtre."  
Steve and Natasha stopped talking, unsettled.  
"Quoi? Je pensais que nous parlions en français maintenant."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation
> 
> "Vraiment? Êtes-vous à l'aise?"  
> "Really? How fluent are you?"
> 
> "Eh bien, je ne suis pas un expert, mais je connais assez bien la langue."  
> "Well, I'm no expert, but I know the language pretty well."
> 
> "Alors, comment as-tu appris le français, Natasha?"  
> "So, how did you learn French, Natasha?"
> 
> "Steve, je suis un assassin hautement qualifié."  
> "Steve, I am a highly skilled assassin."
> 
> "Bon point."  
> "Good point."
> 
> "Et il est vivant, tu regarderais ça?"  
> "And he's still alive, would you look at that?"
> 
> "«Honnêtement, je suis surpris qu'il soit toujours en vie. J'aurais pensé qu'il se serait tué accidentellement maintenant.  
> "Honestly, I'm surprised he's still alive. I would have thought he would have accidentally killed himself by now."
> 
> "Non, il est trop obstiné pour que cela se produise. Mais s'il meurt, mon argent est sur une surdose de caféine."  
> "No, he's too stubborn for that to happen. But if he dies, my money is on a caffeine overdose."
> 
> "Ugh, c'est qui le café? Est-ce à toi Steve? Je sais que vous ne mettez jamais de crème ou de sucre dans le vôtre."  
> "Ugh, who's coffee is this? Is it your's Steve? I know you never put cream or sugar in your's."
> 
> Quoi? Je pensais que nous parlions en français maintenant?  
> "What? I thought we were talking in French now."


	6. Portuguese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently Bucky gets loopy on pain meds.

Steve paced in front of the door, waiting. He was hoping that they'd be able to finish up soon. The sooner they could get Bucky out of the medbay, the better. The last time he'd been in there, they'd had to replace half the equipment.  
Needless to say, he was not a fan of medical procedures.  
The door opened and Bruce peeked out.  
Steve turned around. "Is he OK now?"  
Bruce nodded. "He'll be fine, no need to worry. This time we gave him some stronger tranquilizers and pain meds to keep him calm."  
Steve sighed in relief. "When can he be discharged from the medbay?"  
Bruce thought for a moment. "We're hoping that can happen tomorrow. The sooner he's out of here and we can lower his doses, the better. He's kind of...loopy right now."  
"Loopy?"  
Bruce chuckled, then caught himself. "Yeah, he isn't exactly making sense. He's getting his languages all messed up, but I think we got him down to just Portuguese and English now. He should be able to sort himself out the rest of the way once he's not so drugged up."  
"OK...well, can I see him now?"  
Bruce nodded and pushed his glasses back into place. "Sure. I think they finished putting everything away and cleaning up." He backed into the room, making sure Steve had enough space to enter.  
Bucky was dozing in a bed in the middle of the room, propped up against a pillow.  
"Hey, Bucky."  
He blinked himself awake and yawned. "Steve."  
Steve nodded. "Yep. You feeling any better yet?"  
"Eh ... estou vivo, vou viver."  
Steve looked over to Bruce blankly.  
"He said he'll live." Bruce turned to Bucky. "You're speaking Portuguese again."  
Bucky stared at him, uncomprehendingly and Bruce sighed. "I'm probably going to have to translate for you."  
"OK, then." Steve sat down in the chair next to the bed. "So, what do you want to do while you're stuck in this room?"  
"Eu não me importo. Estou feliz por você estar aqui."  
Steve glanced at Bruce. "He doesn't care, he's just happy you're here."  
Steve smiled. "Really? Well that's good, since I'm going to go over every stupid thing you shouldn't have done." He leaned a little closer, still smiling. "In detail."  
Bucky frowned. "Você está sendo malvado. Deixe o inválido descansar."  
"I don't know what you're saying, but you're not getting out of this."  
Bucky sulked as Steve prepared to launch into his lecture, but did his best to listen, just glad that he had his Steve back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations
> 
> "Eh...estou vivo, vou viver."  
> "Eh...I'm alive, I'll live."
> 
> "Eu não me importo. Estou feliz por você estar aqui."  
> "I don't care. I'm just happy you're here."
> 
> "Você está sendo malvado. Deixe o inválido descansar."  
> "You're being mean. You should let the invalid rest."


	7. German

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha and Bucky like to work out together. When they do, they listen to German rap.

Natasha and Bucky kind of clicked. Clint found it annoying, Tony shipped them, and Steve was...well, he wasn't really sure what he thought of the two most dangerous assassins in the group being so close.  
Steve had been getting bored. It had been too quiet for his taste lately, but he wasn't going to complain, since he knew that most of the others were glad to be under less pressure for once.  
So he tried to console himself with reading books and watching TV until that ceased to entertain him as well.  
So he changed into his workout clothes and grabbed his shield, heading over to the gym area, where he figured someone would be. Maybe he could spar with somebody today, too.  
He stopped at the gym door. There was loud music playing, he could only make out the instrumentals. Then a laugh burst out from inside. Steve opened the door and looked in.  
Bucky was laughing, either with or at Natasha. (With, if he wanted to live without excruciating pain...) "Was glaubte er zu tun?" Bucky wheezed, doubling over.  
Steve froze.   
"Ich habe immer noch keine Ahnung." Natasha replied.  
Steve backed out quickly, nearly dropping his shield when it hit the frame of the door.  
Bucky looked over and cussed, jogging over to Steve. "Hey, you OK there?"  
Steve shook his head numbly.  
"Maybe you should sit down, you look kinda...shaky."  
He sat down on the floor, holding his shield in his lap. "Sorry, just..."  
"Bad memories?"  
"Yeah."  
Bucky sat down next to him. "It's OK, we shouldn't have been listening to German rap, I know-"  
Steve cut him off. "It's fine, Bucky. Just because something bothers me doesn't mean you can't enjoy it."  
Bucky wrapped an arm around him. "Do you need anything?"  
Steve leaned against him. "Not really... But could you tell me what was so funny? I didn't hear much."  
Bucky smiled. "Well you know how Clint used to be in the circus?"  
Steve nodded.   
"Well as it turns out..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve can understand German, but it causes bad memories from the war to resurface, so he avoids it.
> 
> Translations
> 
> "Was glaubte er zu tun?"   
> "What did he think he was doing?"
> 
> "Ich habe immer noch keine Ahnung."  
> "I still have no idea."


	8. Chinese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter loves watching c dramas, and so does Natasha.

Natasha walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. Her snack was still there. Looked like the scare tactics worked. She opened the container, perching on the counter to eat it.  
Chinese dialogue floated out from the living room. She leaned back a little bit so that she could see what was happening. It looked like the kid was watching TV. A Chinese drama, actually.  
She walked over, still eating her snack, and leaned over the back of the sofa, watching. He was totally enraptured by the show, and the subtitles weren't even on. This was interesting. She stayed to watch the entire episode, just as captivated as the kid was.  
He turned around to get up after the episode was over and they came face to face. He blinked. "Hi, miss Romanov Black Widow...um...where you standing there the whole time, or..?"  
She smiled a little and set her snack container on the coffee table. "More or less. You like Chinese dramas?"  
He nodded.  
"You ever watch them with the subtitles on?"  
His face turned red. "W-well, no, I actually like to watch them as they were orignally made..."  
She grinned and hopped over the sofa, sitting next to him. "I like them that way too. It's easier to understand if you know the language."  
Peter nodded. "Yeah, I get that."  
She picked up the remote. "Wǒ yīnggāi kāishǐ xià yī jí ma?"  
He hesitated before speaking. "Shì de, zuìhòu yīgè shì xuányá."  
She clicked the play button, and the show started.  
At first, Peter was kind of nverous around her, but after they were halfway through the first episode, he become totally absorbed in the show, and starting mumbling a commentary in Chinese under his breath that she supplemented with her own observations from time to time.  
Needless to say, it was interesting when Clint walked in on them cheering for the protagonist during a suspenseful moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations
> 
> "Wǒ yīnggāi kāishǐ xià yī jí ma?"  
> "Should I start the next episode?"
> 
> "Shì de, zuìhòu yīgè shì xuányá."  
> "Yeah, the last one was a cliffhanger."


	9. Italian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky likes to make authentic Italian cuisine.

Bucky had taken over kitchen. Steve had unofficially become the one who made food for the team most of the time, but since they'd gotten Bucky, they'd discovered that his love of baking transcended a whole lot of things.   
Which meant that even Steve would be periodically kicked out of the kitchen. Bucky seemingly had the authority to do that, as well as the guts. Steve just didn't like having knives being pointed at him in what had formerly been his territory.  
The one person that he didn't bother was Natasha. Though, that was probably just because she didn't bother him. Clint was usually fair game if he was unaccompnaied by his partner, though.  
Tonight, Bucky was making tiramisu and gelato. Tiramisu, becuase he felt like it, and gelato because someone had eaten the last of his pistachio batch, and he was oddly fond of that flavor.   
He just put the gelato in the freezer, and was going to refer back to his recipe for the tiramisu while it was in the oven, when Clint snatched his gelato recipe.  
Bucky finished looking at the tiramisu recipe, then turned around and glared at Clint.   
Natasha elbowed him. "Give him back his recipe."  
Clint rolled his eyes but handed it back. "You know Italian?"  
Bucky huffed and put the recipe away. "Certo che sì, pensi seriamente che avrei una ricetta se non conoscessi la lingua?"  
Clint folded his arms. "Non sono un'idiota."  
"No, sei oltre." Natasha laughed.  
Bucky huffed. "Esci dalla mia cucina e forse ti lascio mangiare un po 'di tiramisù più tardi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations
> 
> "Certo che sì, pensi seriamente che avrei una ricetta se non conoscessi la lingua?"  
> "Of course I do, do you seriously think I would have a recipe in it if I didn't know the language?"
> 
> "Non sono un'idiota."  
> "I'm not an idiot."
> 
> "No, sei oltre."  
> "No, you're beyond that."
> 
> "Esci dalla mia cucina e forse ti lascio mangiare un po 'di tiramisù più tardi."  
> "Just get out of my kitchen, and maybe I'll let you eat some tiramisu later."


	10. Spanish, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter needs a little help with his Spanish.

Peter frowned at the book he was reading. "Why is this so hard?" He dropped the book, letting it fall on his face. He was sitting on the sofa upside down.   
Bucky picked up the book. "¿La pirámide roja?"  
"Yeah, my Spanish teacher is making us all read a modern or popular or whatever book in Spanish. I need to finish reading it, so I can write a paper on it."  
"So you need help with your homework."  
"As much as I hate to admit it, yes."  
Bucky sat down next to him with the book. "You haven't gotten very far, how long until you have to finish the assignment?"  
"Like...a month, last I checked. But I checked a week or two ago, so..."  
"What are you having trouble with?"  
"Huh?"  
"What are you having trouble with?"  
"Um...I don't know, I'm just having a hard time understanding what they mean."  
Bucky nodded. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to read the book to you, and when we get to a part that you're having a hard time understanding, then you stop me, and I'll explain it to you, bueno?"  
Peter nodded. "Sounds good to me."  
"Well then, let's start from the beginning." He paged to the front of the book. "Solo tenemos unas pocas horas, así que escuche con atención. Si está escuchando esta historia..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations
> 
> "¿La pirámide roja?"  
> "The Red Pyramid?"
> 
> "...bueno?"  
> "...OK?"
> 
> "Solo tenemos unas pocas horas, así que escuche con atención. Si está escuchando esta historia..."  
> "We only have a few hours, so listen carefully. If you're hearing this story..."


	11. Urdu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony writes his personal notes in Urdu.

Tony frowned and tapped at his screen faster. "Hey, Bruce?"  
The other scientist looked up from what he was doing. "Yes?"  
"Could you grab my notes real quick and bring them over here?"  
"Um..." He looked at his computer screen, then his own notes. "In a seocnd, I'm kind of in the middle of something..." He finished putting the information into his computer, then neatly stacked the papers next to it. "Where are they?"  
"Uh, they should be next to my coffee mug."  
Burce looked at the five different coffee mugs that were sitting around. "Which mug?"  
"The red one. There's a wrench on top of them."  
Burce found the mug and picked the wrench off of the papers, looking at them. "Tony, this looks like complete gibberish to me."  
"Well there should be a list of variables in there somewhere. Can you find that?"  
"I'm looking, but it all looks like chicken scratch. This isn't even English." He squinted at it. "It doesn't look like Arabic either, for that matter."  
Tony looked up. "Oh, I forgot that I wrote those in Urdu, give them here." He grabbed the papers from Bruce and shuffled through them until he found what he needed. "Oh so I forgot to account for the acceleration..."  
Bruce went back to his won work, shaking his head fondly. He just hoped that Tony would write English duplicates in case others needed them later.


	12. American Sign Language Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint get's caught up in an explosion, and chaos ensues.

BOOM!  
The explosion knocked Clint from his perch, and he fell, hitting the ground. He lost conciousness for a moment, then pushed himself up. Luckily he hadn't fallen from too far of a height, but he'd still injured himself, anyway. His right shoulder was dislocated and had been badly scraped on the ground, and his left side had burns from the explosion.  
It hurt a lot. He stood up and looked around. He could see all of the others. Wait. Where was Natasha?  
He limped over to the rubble near the building that had exploded. OK, so there was Cap, Tony, Thor, Bruce... Everyone was here except for Natasha. Panic started to set in as strongly as the pain. He needed to find Natasha. Nothing was more important than finding his partner right now.  
He hurried over the best that he could on his injuries, and dodged Steve's hand, which was presumably going to grab him for medical attention. He couldn't go do that and wait to see if Natasha was OK. They were partners. They stuck together, no matter what. And if she was dead...  
He could feel his hands shaking. He needed to find her. That was all that he could think about. He started looking around the rubble, adn was caught by surprise when someone grabbed him from behind. He twisted and landed a weak punch on Steve, who just blinked confusedly. He knew Steve was saying something but he couldnt' make it out, and he needed to fing Natasha, so he squirmed in the soldier's grip fruitlessly.  
Steve tightened his grip, and Clint grabbed at his hands with his good arm. He growled, and kicked. He was pulled farther away from from the ruins. No, no, no, that was where she had been when the explosives wnet off. He needed to find her! What would he do if she was dead!?  
He fought Steve every single inch, trying to break free and search for his partner, but he really only mananged to injure himself further. He could feel the vibrations from Steve that meant that he was talking, but he couldn't hear anything.  
Steve finally managed to wrangle him over to Bruce, who was looking on with some indeterminable expression on his face. He spoke to Steve for a bit, then looked at Clint. He said something that Clint couldn't make out. He would have fought back again, but Steve had him in a surprisingly secure hold, and he hurt all over.  
Bruce switched over to signing. 'Are you OK?'  
Clint scowled. Bruce said something to Steve, who released him just enough so that he could sign back to Bruce.  
'Where's Natasha?'  
Understanding dawned on Bruce's face. 'She's fine. Only superficial injuries. She's on the other side of the building.'  
Clint relaxed, the panic fading, and the pain increasing. 'Good. Now if you don't mind, I think I'll just faint now.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Clint's hearing aids were damaged in the explosion, and he was too panicked to be able to read lips.


	13. Spanish, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter needs help with the last of his Spanish homework.

Bucky had been really helpful, he'd read the entire book to Peter, explaining how the words worked together and made sense. Peter was eternally grateful.  
But now he was trying to write his paper on it, and he was stuck. He had no idea how to edit a paper in Spanish. And Bucky was off doing...well, something. He probably took the weekend off or something like that. And his paper was due on Monday. Today was Saturday.  
At this point, he figured that panic was a perfectly acceptable reaction.  
Bruce came up to the kitchen for a mid-afternoon snack, and found Peter sitting at the table, mumbling and tugging at his hair in despair.  
He wandered over for a look, leaning over the boy's shoulder. "Hm..."  
Peter jumped a little, startled. "Um...hi. Do you know when Sergeant Barnes will be back?"  
Bruce shook his head. "I think he's taking the weekend off, but I'm not sure when he'll be available again."  
Peter groaned and slumped over his notebook.  
"Do you...need help?"  
Peter sat up suddenly. "Dr. Banner! You wouldn't happen to know Spanish, would you?"  
"I'm actually familiar with both the South American and European dialects."  
Peter grinned. "Sergeant Barnes had been helping me with my Spanish homework, but now he's busy, and I'm bad at grammar and spelling, so maybe you could help me out?" He finished breathlessly.  
"Well, my samples do need a couple of hours to finish being tested."  
"Thank you so much."  
Bruce smiled and nodded, sitting down in the chair next to him. "OK, let's start at the beginning..."


End file.
